Do it Yourself Business School for Lawyers: Bring in the MOOCs!

If I had the time and capital to invest, I’d partner with Coursera or ApprenNet (Law Meets) and Wharton and build a “personalized” MOOC business training curriculum with wrap-around guides for three or four BigLaw practice groups. I’d hire the best and brightest JDs and KM professionals to write tailored content applying the B-school material to the real world of law practice. Then I’d license this product to premier law firms for a fraction of the cost of a business bootcamp. My client firms would, ideally, assign partner instructors to coach their associates through the curriculum–connecting the dots along the way. Just a thought.

Business development is about relationships, first and foremost. What goes around comes around. Treat people right or pay the consequences in missed opportunities, broken relationships, burned bridges, and bad word of mouth….

I can think of a million reasons why I don’t have the time to write this article. Pressing reasons. I’m “flat out”. Last week was “crazy” and it’s all I can do to catch up. I need some sleep. Did I already say that I’m “flat out”? I also have “a f…

A confession: I really really love charts. They help me think clearly. They entertain me. They keep things organized. So this year I offer all you summer associates my customarily blunt “best practices” advice in chart form. Three charts to be exact. Enjoy! And pass them on to the chart-less souls among your friends and family.

I am amazed at the number of smart, savvy, competent and competitive friends, colleagues and former partners who have ignored the prodigious power of social media, especially high-end opinion blogs and rapid-information platforms like Twitter, whose purest use is to educate, inform and alert–often ahead of everyone else…..Ultimately, it is bad business to reject efficient new technologies.

It’s not as easy as it was for me–but much remains the same: Industry and skills specialization is still the fastest and smartest route to practice growth. Client contact, on the client’s turf, is still critical. Developing a reputation within your target industry or practice area still requires vastly more than a thorough understanding of the laws and regulations that affect it.

Law firms must accept responsibility for the ways in which they have failed their associates, both young and seasoned, and their young partners, setting them up to be set adrift when, inevitably, client demand for high priced legal services began to fall off. As “Legal Rebel” Ed Reeser suggests, in so many words, in a terrific ABA Journal article I read just this morning, law firms need to get back into the “people business”.

A new school year is upon us, the first phase of summer job interviews – blessedly- is over, my website and blog have been charmingly wordpressed, and a new class of law school graduates is preparing to enter practice in law firms around the country…..

A few weeks ago I interrupted a rather heated exchange on one of my favorite blogs, The Lawyerist, with a lengthy comment that was graciously received by both author and publisher. The original article (you can read it here, comments and all) was …

I am an immense Twitter fan, as demonstrated by my blog posts on its particular utility as a news and information filter for law students and lawyers, here and here. The 140 character limit encourages succinct expression of opinion in professional…

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Betsy Munnell, is a consultant and business development coach committed to helping the next generation of lawyers--both partners and associates-- navigate the uncertain waters of a profession and an economy in flux. She brings to her work the wealth of knowledge she acquired as a partner and deal lawyer for 25 years at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge (now Edwards Wildman & Palmer). Betsy is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, and a vocal advocate for women and minorities in the workplace.

“Betsy is the only consultant in the legal industry who can coach for business development with credibility. Because she did it. She helped build an AmLaw 100 firm as an equity partner, focusing on debt and equity financing in the media/communication industries. She is that unique combination–one who can do and teach. Betsy understands the particular economics of the law firm business model and the elements of success: power and profitability.”